Arsham Ghahramani, PhD

Collision Conf is one of the biggest tech+AI events in North America and I am looking forward to learning more in this exploding space. If anyone is heading that way, feel free to ping and we can connect! #AI #generativeAI #digitaltransformation

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Last week Asian founders did... 🚀 Aditya Rajagopal PhD launched nCompass Technologies Inc.'s first service, an API that supports any open-source, fine-tuned, or custom LLM with no rate limits while maintaining a high QoS. 🚀 Danielle J. Yoesep and Shuying Zhang launched Verse Therapy (YC W24), a healthcare platform to connect patients with speech therapists, and empower speech therapists to start their own practices. 🚀 Vidy Thatte launched Webclips, a no-code platform to build mobile apps on your phone. 🚀 Stephen Chau and Mike Chu launched Cove, a new type of collaborative AI that directly edits content with you, learns from your content, proactively suggests next steps, and more. 💸 Ankur Goyal raised a $36M Series A for Braintrust, an end-to-end platform for building AI applications which focuses on making LLM software development robust and iterative. 💸 Jeff Chang raised a $50M Series B for Rad AI, an AI workflow platform enabling radiologists to save time, reduce burnout, and improve patient care. 💸 Hamzah Chaudhary raised an $11M Series A for Lightdash, a platform which turns business data into a self-serve full-stack BI platform. 💸 Annie Liao 🇦🇺 raised a $1.75M Pre-Seed round for Build Club, an AI e-learning platform empowering builders through hands-on, gamified AI education. 🎙️ Jason Patel, founder of OpenForge, shares his journey building a an AI-powered email sales tool on AI Innovaters with Rob May 🎙️ Arvind Jain, co-founder of Rubrik and Glean, talks about Glean and the future of AI-work on the Venture with Grace podcast Links to the podcasts in the comments ⬇️

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I spent 30 hours working on this presentation! Last week, I had the opportunity to join Shaw Talebi on The Data Entrepreneurs' show First off - this was really really fun for me This was the first "webinar" I've ever done! When Shaw and I first got connected, he suggested it may be fun and a great opportunity to share my experience actually developing and publishing custom AI solutions for the last year and a half. I spent a while thinking about the best way to present our learnings and this is ultimately what I delivered! I wanted to create something that would last and could help business owners understand what AI is and how to use it to make MONEY I tried to distill as many of our learnings as I could. I broke it into 3 main sections: 1. What the heck even is AI? 2. Trends, Observations, and Learnings 3. AI Roadmap to Generate PROFIT Was also joined by some TDE members for a Q&A at the end, where they dug into some of the questions I'm sure you've all been wondering. Go check it out! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions, definitely let me know in the comments below, happy to answer anything :) https://lnkd.in/evDXJFX4

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Sidewalk Labs (Part of Google), another showcase of Canadian politicians bending over for a big US corp, with ZERO tangible results 💩 Roxana and I attended a "private investor demo" session in 2019. A block of wood was passed among the audience, supposedly the NEXT BIG BREAKTHROUGH in urban development! Demo concluded, by observing a piece of wood! Building blocks of future skyscrapers! The promise? With this, Google will build a "Smart City" for us, the peasants of Toronto, in Queens Quay 🏖️🏢 Sidewalk Labs' website now points to a newer Google scam, it reads: "Build Sustainably with Google Earth"! Bait and switch, but let enough time pass so no one remembers 🤢 https://lnkd.in/gd3B-a6m Guess now the investors and Ontario Government | Gouvernement de l’Ontario have shit loads of these wooden blocks, ready to shove up somewhere, to find a use for! All because the name "Bloomberg" sounds authoritative enough to our ears? Surely that's capital well spent, instead of investing in local talent! 🤔 Will Canada's tech ecosystem ever crawl out of Silicon Valley's shadow, and stand on its own? ⌚👀⛔

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I just released the April edition of my AI & the Web newsletter. Nathaniel Simard, founder & CEO of Tracel Technologies and inventor of the burn ML framework, spoke with me about how he got into ML, burn, Tracel and the future of AI. WebGPU, the successor of WebGL, will soon also be supported in Firefox and Safari. Small, powerful LLMs running right in the browser is not a distant future, but are the next big thing in cost-effective and privacy-friendly AI. Google is working hard on better WASM support in the browser that makes ML models running fast even on low-end devices without GPU. With Llama 3 by AI at Meta and Phi 3 by Microsoft AI we got some exciting new, small modells. Llama 3 was already ported to run in the browser and we'll see Phi 3 soon as well. MusicGen has been ported to the browser in transformers.js by Hugging Face engineers and developed an online Jukebox running right in the browser. #webgpu #webml #ai #ml #llama3 #wasm https://lnkd.in/drJCY7Ew

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The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive is one of Canada's most powerful tools for fostering tech innovation - enabling businesses to recoup up to 65% of their R&D salary costs. Here's the troubling reality though: While this program distributes ~$4B annually to 20,000 businesses, an unnecessary "SR&ED consulting industry" has emerged that extracts $400M-800M from these funds. Why? These consultants capitalize on companies' fears about complex paperwork, despite the fact that 94% of SR&ED applications are approved. They charge 10-20% of the tax credit simply to complete forms. Let that sink in: Nearly a billion dollars meant for Canadian innovation is instead diverted to middlemen who add minimal value. At Publicus, we're passionate about streamlining government processes through automation. While SR&ED reform isn't our current focus, we believe in raising awareness about the systemic, government-related inefficiencies that hold back Canadian tech companies. #CanadaTech #GovTech #Grants #Innovation

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🚀 Advanced AI-RAG Chatbot using Langchain for the Landlord and Tenant Board of Ontario is now LIVE! 🚀 👨‍⚖️ Navigating legal waters in landlord-tenant disputes just got easier. I am delighted to present my project on an advanced AI-powered chatbot designed to democratize legal advice for Ontarians. Leveraging advanced technologies such as NLP, ML, and RAG, the chatbot delivers real-time, accurate legal assistance - making it a game-changer in legal tech! 📈 With FAISS-powered retrieval and sophisticated reranking algorithms, this platform is not just fast - it’s razor-sharp in delivering contextually relevant advice. 🔗 Dive into my project presentation to see the details of the project: https://lnkd.in/dU32f7ze 💡 This isn't just a project; it's a project with a purpose. My goal? To ensure that everyone has access to the legal information they need, when they need it, without any barriers. ✨ A special shoutout to the incredible team: Atharva Pandkar, Tarun Reddy who worked with me from time to time and our Professor Dr. Uzair Ahmad, without whose guidance this would not have been possible. We're just getting started on our mission to transform access to legal services. 👇 Check out my project, join the mission, and let's drive legal tech forward together! GitHub Repo: https://lnkd.in/dBDpjFp8 #LegalTech #Innovation #AI #LegalAidChatbot #AccessToJustice #OntarioLaw #TechForGood #ArtificialIntelligence #Disruption

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Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez says that #1 blocker for Enterprise GenAI use cases is data privacy and #2 blocker is the cost (implies ROI). He also explained what Canadian AI startup, Cohere does and how they make money. A must watch for anyone who is interested in Enterprise GenAI use cases. He also said that GenAI fear mongering is cheap ways to get attention (I am paraphrasing, he didn’t use the word cheap). Quite a bit commentary on Google Cloud AI developments as well. Other mentions Oracle and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aidan comes across as a mature tech leader for his young age. He sounds more realistic and less me too, in GenAI hyped era. Aidan was talking to CNBC’s Steve Kovach. https://lnkd.in/g36SFYfn ____________________ Last month, Cohere has raised $450 million in funding from returning investors such as Nvidia and Salesforce Ventures, as well as new investors including Cisco and Canadian pension fund PSP Investments cc David Vellante David Linthicum John Furrier Ron Miller Shelly DeMotte Kramer Robert Hof

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Too often, we get caught up in pursuing perfect outcomes, forgetting that innovation is a journey of trial and error. Check out my full Dialog interview with Mourad Zerroug, CTO at Splash (SplashThat.com): https://lnkd.in/eMgEyBt9

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Well RIP 🪦 my inbox from folks asking for the code we went through 😅 Check out our latest cookbook 👨‍🍳 to walk through safeguarding your workflows with Optimodel (https://lnkd.in/g8wchawU)

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Just had to share this gem from Collision Conf in #Toronto. Among the #startups and VCs, I spotted a guy with a shirt saying, "Ask me about my CAC." Naturally, I asked. Sebastian Fallenbüchl, BASc., the wearer, shot back, "My CAC is getting lower as you just approached me." Genius. Seb’s witty remark was more than just a laugh — it was a reminder that business is about people. Metrics like CAC are crucial, but so are the connections and conversations that drive them down. Takeaway? Be #approachable. Humor and humanity can make all the difference. Thanks for the insight and the laugh, Seb. Here’s to more moments like these! #Networking #BusinessInsights

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ARE WE IN A RECESSION? As mentioned in our prevision post, the NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee took 4 to 21 months to declare past recessions. Sometimes, they even do so AFTER the recession ended. Therefore, how do we know whether we are in a recession today? And are we in one? We know by looking at a handful of indicators. One is the Smoothed U.S. Recession Probability (at the top on the image below), the other is the Real-time Sahm Rule Recession Indicator (at the bottom). Both datasets are updated monthly. The former tells us that we are not in a recession, but the latter suggests that we might be. Because of this uncomfortable ambiguity, the STOIC Recession Index will include a real-time horizon, which will provide the probability that we are in a recession. It will be updated on a monthly basis as well. Right now, it would probably stand between 25% to 50%, meaning that we are not in a recession, but that we might get very close to one.

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If you're a Canadian entrepreneur, investor, or founder then this past week has made it painfully clear that when it comes to innovation and economic recovery the calvary won't be coming and is in fact running in the opposite direction. The federal government and associated regional innovation support agencies (ie Invest Ottawa) are failing to look at solutions aimed at effectively addressing an overall decrease in entrepreneurship and economic activity across the nation and it is now on us, as resilient Canadian entrepreneurs, to empower those who can bring the most value to the table if we are to strive for the quickest path forward towards economic recovery and helping the average Canadian family better their quality of life. I am proud to announce that RHA Ventures Inc. has answered that call 👏 In the face of rising costs for domestic businesses in Canada and competition from abroad, RHA Ventures, an Ontario-based venture capital firm specializing in cutting-edge technologies, announced today its investment in Real Life Robotics, a Waterloo-based company designing real robots for real businesses. This investment marks a significant milestone in the development of Real Life Robotics and underscores RHA Ventures' commitment to supporting true, tried, and tested founders and Ontario’s growing startup ecosystem despite an overall decrease in entrepreneurship across the rest of Canada. “Real robots, real people, and real-world challenges are what differentiate RLR as a technology company. We could not be more thrilled to have RHA Ventures, a group of experienced founders and problem solvers, on board as strategic advisors and investors as we help elevate Ontario globally as a home for first-in-class robotics and automation technology - empowering businesses with transformative robotics solutions that unlock new levels of efficiency, reliability, and scalability,” - Cameron Waite, CEO of Real Life Robotics. The numbers clearly show that the cost of getting involved in a business or launching a new product is too high for the average inexperienced Canadian and our economy has slowed in growth accordingly. On a macro level, we are placing too high an importance on new founders in a down market when we should be rewarding and doubling down on our true, tried and tested investors, founders and legacy businesses who have shown they are willing to take the risk. Thank you, Brian Foster and the rest of the team at RHA Ventures Inc. for taking this first step of the journey with us 🙏 https://lnkd.in/gSr5TP48

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I had the pleasure of joining the one and only Robin Ayoub, VP Sales and General Manager of Lionbridge on his Localization Fireside Chat podcast. We discussed many topics including Tarrifs, Tech, Trade Wars, and opportunities for AI Startups in Canada vs. The United States. Don't miss these important and timely insights into an industry that is profoundly effecting everything in its path.

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There is a new #searchengine in town going after #Google and #Perplexity out of Canada A new AI-first search engine, Upend, has emerged from stealth, aiming to democratize access to advanced generative AI models. Upend is a Canadian startup that has just launched its AI-powered search platform, offering users a unique and powerful search experience. Access to 100+ Large Language Models (LLMs): Upend provides users with a wide selection of LLMs, including models from #OpenAI , #Claude , #Mistral , and more, allowing for diverse and specialized search capabilities. Upend offers the option to base search results on Wikipedia, providing users with grounded and cited information. Affordable Pricing: Upend aims to democratize access to advanced AI search by offering team plans starting at $20/month, significantly lower than competitors. Upend's mission to make AI search more accessible and affordable is a significant step towards empowering students, professionals, and businesses to harness the power of generative AI. _______ 🤩 Enjoy being the first to get news like this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Ben Silverman for more! Want to stay up to date on all of the latest news and tools and get them directly to your inbox every week? ⛏️ Join our community of 2,000 + subscribers today https://lnkd.in/gMDQ6CDd https://lnkd.in/dneXZDbK https://lnkd.in/gfMvRbyq

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April Update: Spent 2 weeks in Silicon Valley listening to lectures from successful businesspeople and VC partners. Learned a great deal from speaking to many industry leaders and inspiring students. Notably, a conversation with Monique Nadeau, CEO of EatLove PRO, greatly familiarised me with Healthcare Data regulations, a topic which I knew little about. In London, I had promising discussions with professors about integrating Calmi into a research project at UCL. We discussed developing a self-harm sentiment detection engine and also testing the efficacy of Calmi on low-risk participants. This could be a great opportunity; however, the collaboration may raise issues with IP and spin out down the line, I’m currently looking into it. I also had meetings with UCL counsellors to better understand the pain points of Student wellbeing services, and my suggestion of integrating Calmi into their systems was received favourably. It would be incredible if a partnership could go ahead so I can help improve the mental health facilities at UCL. An upcoming forecast, I’ll be working closely with Claudia Rawson and Netaniah Pinto on the development of Calmi. We aim to start beta-testing a second batch of users in mid to late May. If you’re interested, please fill in this form and we’ll contact you closer to the date!

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